Blizzard 2012: Indianapolis area recovers after a crazy snow day

Dec. 26, 2012

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Indianapolis digs out after the heavy snow fall as more than 7 inches of snow fell on the city. / Michelle Pemberton / The Star

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The winds blew, the snow fell and the plows plowed.

Now, after a day of closed offices and stay-off-the-roads advisories, officials have a slightly tempered message for Thursday morning’s commuters: Proceed with caution, but proceed nonetheless.

“The roads will definitely be passable,” Indianapolis Department of Public Works spokeswoman Lesley Malone said, “if not mostly clear.”

It’s still worth leaving for work early, Malone said, even though the snow and wind have subsided. With an overnight low temperature of about 20 degrees and a high of 30 today, black ice is possible on area bridges and overpasses, according to a National Weather Service meteorologist.

This after a day that dropped 7.3 inches of snow on Indianapolis, and more south of the city, a total slightly less than what meteorologists had predicted.

Forecasters warned that driving conditions would be the worst during Wednesday’s afternoon rush hour. But by mid-afternoon, the snow had ceased. The city’s bunker-like Emergency Operations Center on the Eastside, which activated the night before to ensure city agencies were all on the same page, closed down at 3 p.m.

By then, would-be commuters already had decided whether to go to work.

Many took officials’ advice and stayed home.

“We were pleasantly surprised by the number of people that stayed off the roads,” said Rita Burris, spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Fire Department.

Those that didn’t often faced tricky terrain.

Using his 1993 Ford F-350 pickup and a tow strap, Sean Payne, 20, Warren Township, said he pulled 18 vehicles — including two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department squad cars — out of snow banks and ditches between 6 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Wayne and Decatur counties, both east of Indianapolis, closed traffic for all but emergencies through this morning. In Decatur County, officials threatened to ticket anyone seen driving.

In Indianapolis, where power failures were not a major issue, the storm had brought several closings. Simon Malls shuttered its malls on a day second only to Black Friday for store traffic as people rush in to return or exchange gifts.

The city’s Museum of Art, zoo and children’s museum all stayed closed, too.

And the city’s full cadre of snowplow drivers stayed busy. They were due to continue working alternating 12-hour shifts through the night.

It wasn’t clear, however, whether Wednesday’s storm qualified as a blizzard, which requires snow that reduces visibility to a quarter-mile or less, and frequent wind gusts of up to ?35 mph for three hours or more.

If you go county by county, “it’s going to take a while to sort this out,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Koch.

South of I-70, there probably are going to be some spots that qualify, Koch said.

But by and large, in Marion County? “To me,” Koch said, “it looks like we probably fell a tad short.”

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